HER'S IS a voice that has a mesmerising effect on listeners even after five decades. She is a singer who renders romantic and cabaret numbers as effortlessly as she does soulful ballads. Who can forget Eena Meena Deeka or Jhoot Bole or the evergreen Chura Liya Hai?

Asha Bhonsle fans and Hindi music buffs, this is just for you. Universal Music has come out with The Golden Years, a 3-CD compilation of some of the best that Asha has sung in her career.

An added attraction is a booklet that traces the life and times of the golden-throated playback singer... from her birth in 1933 in Sangli, a village in Maharashtra, to her introduction to playback singing (as part of a chorus for a Marathi song). Also, some tough moments of her life find mention in the booklet which is sprinkled with some well-known and rare photographs (especially the one of baby Asha, with a serious expression writ large on her cherubic face).

As for the songs, besides the popular ones, there are some not-oft-heard numbers such as Disco Station, Mera Pyar Shalimar and Bheega Badan Jalne Laga.